A little bit of Glossy (Accents, that is)

A customer recently ordered an accordion-style brag book with a vehicle theme. Normally I embellish a book like this with a button, but this time around I didn’t happen to have one that was appropriate, other than colored round buttons. I started digging through my ephemera, when all of a sudden I had an idea. I had leftover scraps of paper with tiny trucks and cars printed on them. Why not turn one of those vehicles into an embellishment for the book cover? I cut out a car very carefully, set it on my non-stick work mat, and squeezed out a layer of Ranger Glossy Accentsâ„¢, spreading the liquid with the applicator tip so it covered the design completely. When it was dry, the result was a hard, shiny embellishment with a paper back that could be glued to the cover of this book.

If you have never heard of this stuff, Glossy Accentsâ„¢ is an adhesive medium that sticks to just about anything but Teflon or a non-stick mat. It dries hard to the touch and crystal clear, you can layer applications for a more dimensional look, and the result is flexible without having a tendency to crack when bent. The fine applicator tip of the bottle allows you to target very precise areas. The tip does have a tendency to clog over time, so it’s recommended to keep a pin handy to keep the pathway clear.

Ranger describes its product this way:

Glossy Accents™ is a clear, three-dimensional gloss medium. Use to accent, brighten, dimensionalize and magnify distinct areas on any scrapbook page, album cover, rubber stamped image, paper craft or home décor project. Place Glossy Accents™ under embellishments to make them stick and on top to protect and glossify!

There are many ways to use Glossy Accentsâ„¢ beyond this description. I combed the Web for ideas and found these uses:

• Use it to secure paper-stitched French knots, giving a little shine to them.
• Glue paper embellishments beneath clear buttons.
• You can sprinkle or mix Glossy Accentsâ„¢ with glitter to make glitter dots.
• It’s great to use as an adhesive for paper, plastic or metal.
• Dot Glossy Accentsâ„¢ on paper or fabric flowers to add dew drops.
• Make three-dimensional stickers by covering paper cutouts with Glossy Accentsâ„¢, then use Glossy Accentsâ„¢ to adhere to chipboard, grungeboard or card stock.
• Make jewelry charms by combining with printed paper and metal findings, or paper and acrylic Fragments (described later in this post).

Does Glossy Accentsâ„¢ have any drawbacks? One user on Scrapbook.com warns user that while the product is water-resistant, it is not waterproof. This means that it may be more appropriate for papercrafting or scrapbooking projects than it might be for jewelry that could get immersed in water. Since I don’t plan on dunking my books in water anytime soon, I don’t think that will be a concern with regard to my own applications, however. I have also seen some lovely jewelry projects that incorporate both paper and Glossy Accentsâ„¢, and believe that if you use some common sense and keep your jewelry away from water, there should be no problem!

Ranger’s creative guru, Tim Holtz, suggests another use for Glossy Accentsâ„¢ and Fragments, small clear “tiles” to which you can adhere printed paper, or that you can ink and glue to paper products to embellish them. In his post, Transparent Illusions, Tim discusses how to create semi-transparent scrapbooking or papercrafting charms with layered ephemera. The glue that holds everything together is Glossy Accentsâ„¢. You take part of an old dictionary page (thin paper is best), and layer collage elements over it such as a ticket, metal foil from a candy bar, a flat metal charm, and maybe a paper flower. You’re the artist, and you determine the elements of your collage. You coat one side of a Fragments tile with Glossy Accentsâ„¢, and press it down on your collage for 10 seconds to remove all air bubbles. Let it dry, and trim excess paper from the back afterward. Make sure you visit Tim’s post to read his step-by-step instructions and view his finished embellishments. To begin, however, you need a bottle of Glossy Accentsâ„¢ and a Tim Holtz idea-ology Fragments tile.

The following short videos provide lots of Glossy Accentsâ„¢ inspiration:

• Glossy Accent Glitter Accents, by Marion Emberson
• Glossy Accents – Embellishing Paper, by scrappycanuck
• Permanent Masking with Glossy Accents, by Jennifer McGuire of Hero Arts
• Glitter Stained Glass Technique, by PrairiePaperandInk
• Bottle Cap Charm Tutorial! *Flattened*, by 202Snowflake (Note: Substitute Glossy Accentsâ„¢ for Mod Podge® Dimensional Magic)

What technique appeals most to you?

© 2013 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.